The Upper Hand
by Flufferbunny37
Summary: Two girls. So alike, yet so different. So mysterious. What's the connection? Can Max and the flock figure it out? FAX later! Anon reviews enabled so no excuse not to! R&R OR ELSE!
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I am not JP, so i do not own max or the flock or anyone except for my many, many fan characters.**

Prologue

Emily stood in the doorway of the room she shared with Faye and stared, her mouth agape. Her backpack dropped unnoticed from her hands.

_Oh, crap, _thought Faye.

"I was kinda hoping you'd stay in New York forever," she said aloud as she set down her _Teen People_ magazine. "How was it? Did you and Angela go shopping? Knowing you, being there for an entire weekend, you probably bought, like, a keychain."

"Shut up, Faye. This is not about New York."

Faye tried to look puzzled, but she was not a great actor. "Well, what _is _it about, then? 'Cause I can't think of—"

Emily blew up. "Stop being stupid! Look at our room! Look what you _did_ to our room! You . . . you . . . you pinkified it!"

Faye braced herself for the torrent of abuse that she knew was coming.

"How the heck did you get away with this? You can not _seriously_ expect me to live in a pink room! You could have at the very least left my side alone! Pink makes me _sick! _You just don't live with someone for thirteen years and not know that they consider _pink_ the dirtiest word in the English language! I have _always_ hated the color pink, and you _know_ that! Now you just—"

"WHAT is going on up here?" demanded their mother, cutting Emily off, which Faye considered a small blessing.

"Faye redecorated," said Emily simply, crossing her arms and putting on that "I'm-getting-someone-in-trouble-and-too-bad-so-sad-for-them-ha-ha-at-least-I-get-a-few-laughs" face that Faye hated so much.

Their mom seemed to notice the room for the first time. Her jaw dropped open.

"Faye, when did you do this . . .?" she asked, the incredulity clear in her voice.

Emily looked, if possible, even angrier. "You mean . . . you didn't _know?_ She did this all right under your _nose? _She didn't have your _permission?_" She was angry, but Faye detected a hint of respect in her voice.

"No, she absolutely did not!" answered her mother as she glared at Faye.

Faye flinched. She was in for it now—big time. She started to twirl her honey-blond hair—a nervous habit.

"Faye Elizabeth Hawthorne, what in heaven's name made you think you could do this?"

Behind her pink glasses, Faye rolled her eyes. "Be_cause_, Mother, I really needed to redo my room, but I knew you wouldn't let me unless Emily did, too, and I knew that she would instantly veto pinkness, so what else could I do? And when she went to the Big Apple with Angela this weekend, it was the perfect opportunity!"

"Nonetheless, Faye, you can't just up and drastically change the room, especially not with the _p-_word!" shouted Emily.

"If it was up to _you_ we'd be living in a _tent!_"

"What's wrong with a tent?"

"Hel-_lo!_ Tents are outside, and so are bugs! And snakes, and frogs, and mountain lions—"

"Mountain lions don't live around here, stupid!"

"So what? I still would rather not have to sleep in a tent all the time!"

"Prima donna!"

"Tomboy!"

"Stuck-up—"

"All right, stop it!" shouted Mrs. Hawthorne. "This is getting out of hand."

The girls were both red-faced, and, looking around, they saw they had an audience.

_The worst part about big families, _thought Faye. _Nothing you ever do is private. _

Emily swallowed her insult and slung her backpack back over her shoulder. She stormed over to the closet and flung it wide open.

"Thank god you at least left my clothes alone," she muttered. She grabbed her skateboard and tucked it under her arm and pushed through the crowd of spectators, a.k.a. her family.

"Now wait just a minute, young lady. Where on earth do you think _you're_ going?" demanded her mom.

"Somewhere where it's not _pink_ and where hateful little _brats_ don't _exist!_" she responded, whirling to face her sister.

That was it. Faye had heard enough. She could take these other insults, but she had gone too far now. If there was one insult she couldn't stand, it was _brat—_and Emily knew it.

"I HATE YOU!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

"JOIN THE CLUB!" shouted Emily as she turned to go. She stomped down the stairs. "I'M GOING TO ANGELA'S!" she shouted just before the front door slammed. She pushed off on her skateboard and rode off down the street.

The group slowly turned to see Faye. She was seething.

"I hate you," she added, more quietly. Then she spun around and slammed her bedroom door behind her.


	2. The Actual Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Max

I flew through the air, loving the feel of the wind on my wings. I put on a burst of speed—which, in my case, is, like, a lot—and flew five miles in ten seconds. Well, it felt that way, anyway.

God, I love flying. It's absolutely amazing.

And then, of course, I looked down. If you're me, it's generally a bad idea to look down.

Because then you have to see what's going on down there.

And with my luck, someone's usually in trouble.

And I have to save them.

Because that's just what Max does.

And I happen to be Max.

Duh.

So anyway, someone did seem to be in trouble. Or at least looked like it. Because Someone was crawling backwards as some evil-looking person advanced toward them.

And they happened to be at the edge of a cliff, getting nearer and nearer.

And the evil-looking person actually seemed to get more evil-looking and wolfish and hairy. Like, say, one of my old friends the Erasers.

Oh, crap.


	3. The Actual Chapter 2

**Ok, sorry the last chapter was really short. But I'm updating now and I promise this chapter will be longer. Also I had a prologue so all the chapters are behind what the numbers say, and the name of the chapters are the person whose POV this is. And this combines elements of all 3 books (such as they have the laptop but there are also real erasers and not Flyboys).**

**And I was going to say all this last chapter but I forgot. Sorry.**

Chapter 2: Max

"Hey, stupid. Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" I shouted. "And your own species, come to think of it. That would really help. I'd send you a nice gift basket."

The Eraser turned to me and snarled. Yeah, snarled.

Geez. Just how clichéd _are _these Erasers? What next, an evil laugh and rubbing his hands together? Actually, I probably don't want that question answered.

He turned back to Someone, who I now realized was a girl probably around my age, but several inches shorter. And, yes, as he got closer, he let out an evil laugh and rubbed his hands together.

These guys watch way too many old movies.

The poor girl was literally shaking with fear. That really made me mad, that these guys thought that they could just start going after anyone they wanted. What, did they run out of poor, helpless bird children to chase?

What a tragedy.

Not.

I dropped down from behind and landed a high kick right into his back, a kick that would have broken the spine of a normal man. This guy got the wind knocked out of him.

He whirled around and faced me, snarling again.

"Again with the snarling? You really need to update your bad guy moves, pal," I advised him.

He growled in response.

I mock clapped. "Very good!" I said. "You upped it from snarling to growling. You get a gold star for the day."

He lunged at me. I responded with a well-placed kick. He fell to the ground, whimpering.

"Go!" I shouted at the girl. She didn't comply. She was too busy watching, wide-eyed, at the fight scene that was unfolding before her. I half expected her to pull out a bucket of popcorn, as if she was at the movies.

"Okay, fine, you can stay, just don't get killed!" I yelled, dodging the Eraser's boot. I punched him in the face, flinching at the _crack_ as his nose broke.

"Can't say I'm sorry about that," I said conversationally. He snarled—again.

"Retrogressing, now, are we?" I asked. "I thought we agreed—no more snarling, only growling."

His response? A growl.

Shocker.

At least he's a good listener.

"So, what's your name?" I asked as I shot a roundhouse kick at his chest. "Wait—let me guess. Snarly? Growly? Cliché-y?"

He snarled. I took that to mean that his name was Snarly, or maybe Cliché-y. It was kind of hard to tell.

I was easily gaining the upper hand in the skirmish, repeatedly inflicting injury upon Snarly as we advanced farther and farther toward the edge of the cliff. I was going to win—anyone with half a brain could figure that out.

So I pretty much figured that Snarly knew that, too.

But then I remembered that Someone was at the edge.

"Oh, crap!" I said. "Wait here," I told Snarly as he stood sniveling near the edge. I flew over his head to get Someone over him so I could push him off, thus ending all my problems at that immediate moment.

Only, where was Someone?

Uh-oh.

**So how was that? Sorry it took so long to update—I had homework I had to get done, but now I'm done with the chapter. I swear that the rest of the flock will appear within the next 2 chapters—maybe not the next one, but definitely the one after that **

**And can you believe how awesome a name Snarly is? I think I should get a creativity award for that, don't you think? Jk, it's stupid, but it fits.**


	4. The Actual Chapter 3

**Ok, I'm sooooooo sorry 4 not updating. I will not be at all surprised if there is a virtual angry mob in my computer. I will fully deserve it. But if you want someone to blame, blame my teachers because they r psychotic (just ask nightengale07) so I couldn't do it becuz of all my hw and……..ok im babbling. But so what, here it is. And this is the longest chapter so far, so I'm kind of compensating.**

Chapter 3: Max

_Where did Someone go?_ I said to myself. I was almost scared to look down. But it had to be done, so I took a deep breath and leaned over.

Not there—or at least in my line of raptor vision. Thank goodness for that.

Except that left exactly zero possibilities where she could be.

That's when I heard the scream.

I spun around, not really expecting much. Maybe one of the flock came down and punched Snarly out.

Yeah, right. Like I was really that lucky.

Then I saw what had happened.

Oh my god.

Someone was standing behind me, her fist up, Snarly out cold at her feet. She grinned at me apologetically.

"Sorry," she said. "I know he was yours, but he was about to push you off—like that would have done any good, but I don't think this guy's the brightest crayon in the box—and so I was trying to help."

I couldn't even answer. My mouth was open too wide.

"Wha—how—back—" was all I could manage.

She grinned again. "Long story, and kind of confusing. I just kind of jumped over and landed behind you. I don't know how, but it happened. Weird, huh?" But there was something in her eyes that made me think that she didn't consider it weird at all.

Suddenly, she cocked her head and was evidently thinking hard. Her green-brown eyes seemed to stare right through me as she squinted and chewed her bottom lip. Finally she spoke, although it was more of a muttering to herself than anything.

"Hmm . . . _Anything but Ordinary,_ Avril Lavigne. _Never Underestimate a Girl,_ Vanessa Hudgens. _Miss Independent,_ Kelly Clarkson. _Nobody's Fool,_ Avril Lavigne . . ."

I was still staring stupidly at her like a slackjawed idiot. She probably thought that I was thinking she was the weirdest person I'd ever met (ha! If she only

knew . . .) and seemed to come out of a trance.

"Sorry, force of habit. Whenever I meet someone, I have this weird sense about exactly what they're like, and I automatically try to think of a theme song for them. Some are really difficult, and others, like you, are so easy that I can't think of just one, but, say, 4?"

I stared at her.

She seemed to have a moment of epiphany, because she said half to herself, "Oh! Here's another . . . _Mobile,_ Avril Lavigne—seems like Avril's your kind of

girl . . ."

I was still gaping at her. Finally (as in, approximately 10-15 minutes later), I figured out that this probably wasn't good for my self-image, so I shut my mouth and smiled.

"Hi. I'm Max. What's your name?" Oh my god. Did I really just say that? Wow. I was starting to sound as clichéd as the Erasers.

Her smile disappeared. "I don't actually know," she said. "I mean, I know, but I just—well, that's another long story. But you can call me Spidey."

Turns out I looked as perplexed as I felt, because she sighed and said, "You'd better sit down."

So I complied. She sat down next to me and began to speak.

"Okay, so this one day I was walking home from the park with my friend, Gee," she began. "It was a really nice day, and I wasn't ready to go home just yet, so we decided to go home the long way, through the woods. That was not the smartest of moves."

She took a deep breath before going on. "We were ambushed. By a bunch of those guys"—she jerked her thumb backwards to indicate Snarly—"and we tried fighting back, but it was hopeless."

I nodded in agreement. They were hard enough for us mutant bird kids to fight—let alone two average teenagers. They wouldn't have stood a chance.

"We ended up in California—which was no small journey from eastern Virginia. I think we were drugged, because I was being wrestled into a Jeep and the next thing I knew, I woke up in a dog crate in a lab.

"Gee was next to me. She looked a lot worse off than I did, though. I swear, I never saw her come out of the fetal position."

I nodded sympathetically. I knew exactly what she was talking about. Some days I'd felt the same way. Thank god those days were long gone.

"But then, after a few days, they took Gee out and gave her some sort of shot. I freaked, thinking it was, like, a lethal injection or something. But no—it was much worse."

My stomach contracted, knowing what was coming next. But I couldn't stop her now.

"I don't know how much later it was—maybe a few days, maybe a few weeks—but she began to change gradually. Long story short, she became sort of a fishy thing. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The poor thing was tormented. And—I guess she was kind of like an amphibian and needed to be in water sometimes—she—she—"

Spidey burst into tears. I patted her on the back, not really knowing what to do for her. "It's okay, it's okay," I murmured, even though I knew this was far from okay.

"—she—_died!" _she shrieked. "It's not fair! This wasn't her fault! I just wanted to kill those scientists. I really did. I still do."

Ugh. I knew the feeling. Too well.

"But then, the next day, they took me out. And they gave me one of those shots. I knew what was coming as soon as I saw the needle, and I did everything in my power to prevent it. But they got me.

"For the next few days, I sat and cried in my cage. I was terrified that I was going to die like Gee—slowly, painfully, and—this scared me most—never getting to say goodbye to my family. As soon as I thought of that, I made up my mind to fight back, no matter what it took. One of us had to live, and it sure as heck wasn't going to be her. I had a good idea of what to do if I was like a fish, only it didn't work out quite like that.

"I guess that they figured that the fish thing was a failed experiment, because they tried something different for me. I discovered, after a few days-slash-weeks, that I was not growing gills. Rather, I was growing wings."

I gasped. I don't think that she noticed. I doubt that she had noticed my wings, either, because she'd been looking away as I landed behind Snarly and I'd tucked them in afterwards.

"Yeah. Wings," she continued. "I freaked out. At least Gee's mutation was less noticeable, but how the heck could I go home like that? That wasn't something you could keep from anyone for long.

"But evidently they weren't done with me. After they were satisfied with the wings, they gave me another shot. I freaked out—was this the fish? Was I going to become some sort of literal flying fish? But no, that wasn't the case.

"I swear, they must have looked through my backpack and found my _Spider-Man _comics in there. Because this injection clearly contained spider DNA—or deoxyribonucleic acid, if you want to sound smart—and I received all of the same powers as Spider-Man. Seriously—I had the spider-sense, the wall-crawling, the spider-strength, the webs (although they were natural, not an invention), the whole shebang. That's how I came up with the name Spidey.

"I also discovered that I could read minds, and using my newfound skill, I found out that their plan was to see if they could create recombinants of three species. And with me, they succeeded. I was disgusted."

My mouth dropped open. She didn't notice.

"I also, apparently, could control minds. So I made them let me go. As soon as I could, I got a newspaper and found out the date. I found out I'd been away for almost a year—nine and a half months, to be exact.

"I knew I couldn't go home, so I was constantly on the run so that no one would recognize me and send me home, because I knew someone would—especially if tantalized with a reward. But it's been two months and nothing's happened. And then, you know what happened recently. And so my story ends here."

We sat silently for a few minutes, pondering her sad tale. Finally, I stood up and said quietly, "You know the wing thing?"

She looked up and nodded, apparently wondering what was going on.

"Well, I have wings, too." I unfolded them to show her.

Her mouth dropped open. She was utterly shocked.

"And, I have a flock—others like me—five others. If you want, you could join us. We'd love to have you."

She stared for a few minutes, then nodded slowly and stood up.

I smiled. "Here. Come with me and meet the rest of my flock."

**So there it is. How was it? Again, so sorry to have kept you waiting. And I swear the flock will be in the next chapter. Now REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't care if you hated it. Review anyway.**


	5. The Actual Chapter 4

**REJOICE!!!!!!!!!! I am updating sooner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And the flock is in this chapter, as promised.**

**And if you hate me for putting spiderman in here like nightengale07 apparently does, im sorry, but it is essential to parts of the story, and do you really think that the whitecoats would do anything as redundant as make 7 of the same recombinants? No, I didn't think so. So I needed a new twist on it. **

Chapter 4: Spidey

Ugh. I could not believe myself. Here I was, totally having learned never to trust anyone I didn't know the hard way, and yet I still poured out my life's story to Max/Avril (seriously, her first album could be a soundtrack of Max's life—except maybe Sk8er Boi).

But seriously. How stupid was I? She could have been an Eraser. She could have killed me. But I guess after you watch your best friend die, there's hardly anything anyone can do to you anymore.

At least, that's how I felt.

"Here, do you want to fly over or just walk?" asked Max.

"Walk?"

"Yeah. There's this sort of natural tunnel that links all the caves around here. Or maybe they're just caverns. Whatever. I'm not _that _smart, especially with vocabulary."

I stared at her. She had to be the weirdest person I'd ever met, aside from my friend Juliana, who was the one who decided that we should go to the mall for her fourteenth birthday party (which happened to be right before—you know), go into the beauty shop, and get our hair highlighted in our favorite colors. So now I have green streaks in my hair, and that was the cause of the biggest fight I ever had with my parents. (There's also the fact that my hair has certainly grown in the year that I'd been gone, but the streaks were not going away. Maybe it was all the lab testing, or maybe it was in the dye—I don't know. Good marketing ploy—if you want your hair back to normal, you have to go back and get it dyed back.)

"Let's just walk," I responded.

It took us all of five minutes to get there. I have to admit, the caverns were cool. There were a lot of stalactites (not as many stalagmites, and the stalactites were pretty short). If my brother Luke were there he'd have been getting a kick out of it. He's way into earth sciences, and he knows it well, being only seven. Not bad, for a second grader.

We finally arrived at a little area where the caverns widened out into a small cave. _Nice real estate,_ I thought. There was even an opening, which led out to a small cliff not unlike the one I was just being terrorized by an Eraser (that Max christened Snarly) on.

There was a small campfire in the center of it, around which five kids were clustered—a tall, dark boy that reminded me of my brother Danny (with the height and build to boot—Danny's six feet tall and very long and lanky. Not to mention they were dressed the same—all in black), a taller, redheaded boy with the bluest eyes I'd ever seen, a smaller, black girl with dark hair and a contagious smile (who was talking incessantly and, I was to learn, absolutely never shut up), and a little blond boy and girl who were incredibly cute (they couldn't have been older than nine or ten). Max walked in and waved.

"Hey, guys. I found someone out there during my morning exercise," she said.

_Come _on, I thought. I was hoping to just slip in subtly, and then when someone asked who the new girl was, Max would just say offhandedly, "Oh, this is just someone I picked up that needed a place and I gave her one 'cause she's like us except that she can read/control minds and has weird spider powers. Other than that she's just like us."

Well, that possibility was out the window now.

Five pairs of eyes turned toward me. I smiled and waved nervously. I'd never been that good in front of a crowd—which is why I failed English class because of all the oral reports. My eighth grade teacher was very big on those stupid things.

"Hi! I'm Nudge!" said the overly loquacious one. "Welcome to the flock! This is Fang and Iggy and Angel and Gazzy and Max! Except I guess you've already met Max! But I don't care! My favorite color is red! I like cars! My favorite food is—"

"Okay, Nudge, that's enough!" said the dark one, clapping a hand over her mouth. He looked at me. "Sorry. She's a talker."

"Really. I hadn't noticed," I replied, smiling. _The Sweet Escape, Gwen Stefani. Or It's My Life, No Doubt. _ She'd probably like Gwen Stefani and No  
Doubt. I made a mental note to play her some ska.

The dark one—this could only be Fang. Up close, he looked even more like my brother—kind of a punk-skater type. _Paint it Black, Rolling Stones. _Maybe it was kind of an overly Goth song, but tone it down a little and that would be him.

The little girl—Angel, obviously, stared at me. It was kind of weird. Suddenly I heard a voice in my head.

My first thought was, _That's it. I've finally cracked. I'm hearing voices in my head._ But then I registered what it was saying.

_Hi. I'm Angel. Can you read minds too?_

I did a double take. _ What? Yeah. You can?_

_Uh-huh._

Something about her told me that she had seen way more in her life than any six-year-old ever should. _Where is the Love, Black Eyed Peas. _

It fit her.

Next were Iggy and Gazzy. Something told me they were something of inseparable, despite the age difference.

"Hey," said Iggy. I smiled. "Hey."

"Well," said Iggy, "you're going to have to find this out sooner or later, but I'm blind. But that doesn't stop me from doing anything I want. So don't let it bother you or anything."

I blinked. I hadn't even noticed. But no matter what he said, I knew that he felt all alone in the world. _I am Understood?, Relient K. _Actually, a lot of Relient K songs would fit him. _Falling out _and _Forward Motion,_ especially.

Gazzy was a cute kid, but—well, let's just say I don't appreciate his "presents." He let one loose as I said hi. "Sorry," he said.

I choked. "Ach! Ew! Gross!" I cried.

"Sorry!" he repeated.

"Nice greeting, _Gasman,_" said Iggy. Oh great. This kid's real name was Gasman? Wonderful.

"Yeah, great way to introduce yourself," said Fang.

"Nice," I said. This kid had to be a goofball. He was kind of difficult, but eventually:

_If Gazzy started dating: Captain Crash and the Beauty Queen from Mars, Bon Jovi._

That song was probably written about him and his future girlfriend. I could just picture it.

So, there was everyone. I was relieved to have figured one out for them all. It is, after all, one of my natural talents—_not _brought on by mutating my genetic structure.

Everyone was still looking at me. "What? What do you want?" I half shouted at them.

"To know your name?" said Nudge after a pause.

Oh. Right.

"I'm Spidey," I answered.

There was a general murmur amongst them. Then Fang got up, and with great dignity, shook my hand.

"Welcome to the flock, Spidey."

**So how was that? Please review!!!!!!!!!!!! Please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I beg of you!!!!!!!!!!!! Please?????????? Isn't that purple button pretty? Click it and review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	6. The Actual Chapter 5

**Ok, thank you 4 the 9 reviews from maximumride24, maximum-ride-003 (2), nightengale07 (4), and skyflyer81310 (2). (#s in parentheses mean that's how many reviews they've submitted.)**

Chapter 5: Fang

Okay, I will say that I consider acting a natural talent. Although it's kind of hard to tell what's natural and what isn't when your genes have been tampered with. And so I was able to act like it didn't bother me _at all_ when Max brought home—_home_ used in the broadest sense of the word—a random genetic anomaly. Okay, so Max didn't _say_ that she was, but it was pretty obvious. I mean, this was Max. Why would she bring a totally random kid? It wouldn't make any sense.

What if this girl was an Eraser, sent to spy on us? It could happen. Hey, if you're part of the flock, then anything, and I mean _anything,_ was possible. I swear, if I saw a cow jumping over the moon while flying—me, not the cow, although that wouldn't surprise me either—I would just think, "Oh. Looks like the whitecoats have a new 'experiment'."

Which is not actually a normal reaction. If a normal kid saw it, they would say, "Mommy! I just saw a cow jump over the moon!", and then their mom would say, "Right, Billy. And I'm sure that next you'll be telling me that you saw a fourteen-year-old with wings flying after it."

Yeah.

I don't think so.

Plus, it was okay for me to act like that in front of her. She didn't know me. But I think Max and the others were pretty suspicious. So I needed to talk to Max.

Anyway, that night, when Max was on watch, I hurried over to her and said softly, "Max, are you sure about this? Just letting her in? What if she's a spy?"

Max jumped. I think I startled her.

"Sorry," I said.

"That's okay," she replied. "Trust me on this, Fang. She's not an Eraser or a whitecoat or anything. Remember how we felt when we escaped from the School?"

I remembered. Haunted by bad dreams. Extreme paranoia that they were coming back for us. Scared by your own shadow. And especially, the inability to trust anyone.

"Well, that's how she feels," said Max. "I know these things. Anyway, she doesn't look like an Eraser. She's too young."

"Point taken, but still . . ."

"No, Fang. No."

"But—"

"_No."_

"Max is right."

This was an entirely new voice, soft and small. Angel.

Max scooted over for her. "Ange, what are you doing still up?"

"I heard you guys arguing about whether you thought Spidey could be trusted. I just wanted to say that she can. Seriously."

Whoa. "Did you read her mind or something?" I asked.

Angel nodded. "Not all of it. Just the stuff that mattered. Like the fact that she's kind of scared of us, too."

Wow. This was an entirely new development.

"_What?"_

"I'm not kidding, Max. It's the truth. Wouldn't you be kind of scared if a group of runaway mutants invited you to come stay with them, even after seeing one take out an Eraser with their bare hands?"

Okay. She had a point.

"What if the whitecoats put fake memories or thoughts into her mind and made her true thoughts unreadable?" I asked.

Max and Angel stared at me.

"What? It could happen," I said defensively. "You never know what the whitecoats will come up with next."

"True," said Max, "but still, I think we should go with the 'innocent until proven guilty' thing."

"Yeah," agreed Angel.

I sighed, realizing I was defeated. "Okay, fine. You win. She can stay."

"Yeah. Duh, Fang. Since when are you the leader?" asked Max. "I believe _I_ call the shots around here."

I sighed again, knowing better than to argue with her—because it was true. But she was still only four months older. Who said she was leader in the first place? If you ask me, the leadership should be a joint responsibility. _And Angel, if you are listening in on my thoughts, NONE of this goes to Max. Understand?_

_Yes._

_That wasn't meant as an invitation._

_I know._

I rolled my eyes as I lay down to sleep. But I looked at Spidey for a long time.

_I'll be watching you, _I thought. _Don't try anything funny._

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I BEG OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**And for those of you (coughnightengalecough07coughcough) who are confused about why Fang was acting this way, I hope this cleared it up for you.**


	7. The Actual Chapter 6

**Well then (I am trying not to start all of my A/Ns in "Ok"), I appreciate greatly the reviews I have gotten from all you people. And nightingale07, I consider the "funny" comment offensive.**

Chapter 6: Snarly

Aww, look at them. So cute, pretending everything was so safe for them.

As if.

I set down my binoculars and growled. I couldn't believe that Max had named me "Snarly." True, I didn't have a name, but still, few of the Erasers ever even spoke in the flock's presence. Instead, they made their feelings known by growling or making other noises. Actually, I knew of only one that actually ever spoke to them—Ari, Max's half-brother.

I feel really bad for him. No one should have a sister like that.

What were they doing now? I put the binoculars back up. I wanted the best possible moment to drop in on them, to attack them, to hurt them all the way they had to the rest of the Erasers, including me. I growled softly at the memory of being pushed off the cliff. Thank god Ari was there with his helicopter. Otherwise, let's just say that IHOP would be scared of competition.

Yum, blueberry.

Ha ha ha.

The flock was gathered around the new girl—he still didn't know her name, but she was the one who tossed him off—who was holding a laptop. They were all chatting and looking like they hadn't a care in the world.

This was it.

I grinned and started climbing.

**How's that? Sorry it's so short, but the next one will be longer and will have a fight scene in it, and you probably can tell that from the end of this one. O well.**

**PS REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	8. The Actual Chapter 7

**I am now updating sooner than ever before! This is to make up for not updating earlier. But whatever. Here goes—**

**Disclaimer: iTunes is not mine, sadly. I would be rich if it was, but I'm not. Also, the songs I may or may not put in here are the property of their artists. **

Chapter 7: Angel

_Where is the Love? _ I'd never heard that song before. Not that I'd ever heard that many, but she'd said in her mind that that should be my theme song. I thought I had a right to know. I wondered if there was a way to get her to play it for me.

Spidey was doing something on the laptop, which she had discovered about thirty-seven minutes ago and was crazy about it. No one had even been able to talk to her because they were just ignored. But I could talk to her—in my mind. Which, if you're me, isn't nearly as crazy as it sounds.

So I walked over to her casually. _Hi,_ I thought.

She jumped. I guess she wasn't used to people talking to her like that. Not that I could blame her. _Hi,_ she thought back apprehensively.

"Whatcha doing?" I asked out loud, now that I had her.

"Nothing," she replied.

"Um, I was wondering, about that song—"

She groaned. "I keep forgetting that you can read minds, too. You want to hear it?"

I nodded eagerly.

"Okay."

She opened up an icon on the screen that looked like a music note and a CD.

"What's that?" I asked.

"iTunes."

It sounded like that was all the explanation I needed, so I stayed quiet. When it was open, she double clicked on _Where is the Love?_ and it started playing.

_People killin', people dyin', _

_Children hurtin', hear 'em cryin'_

_Will you practice what you preach_

_And would you turn the other cheek_

_Father, Father, Father, help us_

_Send some guidance from above_

_Cuz people got me, got me questioning_

_Where is the love?_

My mouth dropped open. That was so me. I'd overheard her saying at the same time that she thought that I'd seen way too much in my life that any seven-year-old ever should. This thought was only reinforced as I listened to the rest.

The rest of the flock began to congregate around me and Spidey. As they stared at the screen—minus Iggy, of course—I could tell that they totally agreed.

_Wow, totally Angel,_ thought Max.

_Nice choice, _thought Fang.

_That could be for all of us, but especially Ange,_ thought Gazzy.

_Oh my god! That's, like, the best song ever for Angel! That totally describes her! I can't believe how amazing this one is! Holy cow--_ I don't think I need to say that that was Nudge.

_Man, she really did well with this one. I wonder if she's as good with anyone else's,_ thought Iggy.

When the song finished, we were all staring at it with dumbfounded gazes.

"Wow."

(That was the general reaction.)

"Oh my god, you are so good at this," said Max. "What about the ones you said for me?"

"Wait, you had some for Max? What about me?"

"And me?"

"What about me? Was I hard or easy to figure out? I bet I was hard. It's not like I ever tell anyone how I feel all the time, I'm so mysterious, like Fang. Right? So wasn't it hard to figure mine out? Huh?"

"Yeah, Nudge, you go right on believing that."

"I consider that offensive, Gazzy."

"You so should! I mean, like, I'm so sure that no one even knows that you talk way too much, so, like, how can anyone figure out what you're like?"

He said that last part in Nudge's voice, and everyone—including Nudge—laughed hysterically.

Spidey laughed, too. "Guys! Guys! I have one for all of you guys. Just wait! I'll play them all!"

They all quieted down at that, eager to hear them.

Spidey was just about to click on one—one that I heard was Nudge's, to get her to shut up—when the strangest look came over her face. It started as confusion, then recognition, then utter panic.

"Everyone RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she screamed.

Of course, we all had to turn around and see what was going on.

Erasers!

**Sorry, I lied. The fight scene will be in the next chapter. But this one is longer, tho.**

**(That purple button is calling to you—**_**"Click me, click me, click me!" **_**Don't you hear it? You are going to comply—you will listen to it—you will review--)**

**Today I cleaned my locker! It's only the 18****th**** day of school and a locker cleaning was already long overdue. Is that sad or what?**


	9. The Actual Chapter 8

**I really really really appreciate that you like my story so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep reviewing and I will keep writing!!!!!!!!!!!!**

Chapter 8: Max

Okay, how did she know that there were Erasers? Her back was toward them. But right now was not the time to dwell on that. Instead I told her the number one rule of living with the flock.

"Um, Spidey? If we have a heads up about the attack, we try to defend ourselves rather than running right off."

"That's what I meant!" she responded as she kicked one in the chest.

"Oh. Well then that's good!"

There were a lot of Erasers. How could they have known where we were? I'd had the chip out for a while now. I went back to my old fear that one of the flock was chipped. And what if Spidey was chipped? I doubted it. She would have told me in her little anecdote. Unless . . . she was afraid that I wouldn't let her in if she was chipped.

_No, Max. I'm not chipped._

Okay. That cleared that up, then.

But . . . if she wasn't chipped, then that left only one possibility . . .

I searched the cave frantically. And there he was, fighting Nudge.

My good friend, Snarly.

I punched the guy I was fighting so hard that I knocked a few teeth loose on him—_ow, _that had to have hurt my hand. But I was so full of adrenaline that I hardly felt it.

I stormed over to Nudge's battle—which she seemed to be losing. "I'll take over from here, thanks," I told her. "I've got some personal issues with this guy," I explained. She nodded and found another Eraser.

Snarly turned to me—you guessed it, snarling.

"Oh, do you need a refresher course? Okay, only growling, no snarling under any circumstances."

He snarled. I was possibly imagining it, but I think he snarled louder and more contemptuously than before.

Sheesh. They're rebelling earlier and earlier.

"You know"—I kicked him across his jaw—"this is like déjà vu"—I aimed a roundhouse kick into his chest—"cuz remember"—I punched his nose, hearing the crack—"when I 'killed'"—(if I could have made air quotes I would have, but I was kind of preoccupied at the moment)—"your fellow Eraser"—I threw a punch at his jaw—"Ari?"

He growled at me. I was beating the snot out of him, so it was kind of weak.

Geez. This guy really needed to train some more.

"You know, this is kind of insulting, me fighting you, when you're obviously a rookie at this when I'm a seasoned pro," I said.

I think he found that offensive because he snarled at me.

But with Snarly, that could just have easily meant "Hey, you're kinda cute. Wanna go out sometime?"

But I had a feeling that that wasn't what he was saying.

I think that I'm a good guesser.

And then everything changed as he lunged.

Not at me, but at Angel, who was having a lot of fun watching Eraser after Eraser knock themselves—and each other—out, clearly because of her nifty mind control ability.

"Angel!" I screamed. But it was no use. As the rest of the flock turned to see what was happening, I felt tears coursing down my cheeks. He was going to kill her. Just like I've always been terrified will happen. Her life flashed before my eyes.

Betcha haven't heard that one before.

But then a punch flew out of nowhere. The next thing I knew, Snarly was out cold.

The flock, the Erasers, and I swiveled around to see what had happened.

And there was Spidey, standing behind Snarly, calmly contemplating the scene.

"So what now?"

Boy, was that an eventful ending to the battle.

**So how was that? REVIEW or I will not write any more……BWAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Well, ok, I will. I like doing this too much. But it scared you, right? REVIEW ANYWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	10. The Actual Chapter 9

**Chapter 9 is now here! And thank u for the lovely reviews. They are appreciated!**

Chapter 9: Angel

I have never been so scared in my life. That Eraser lunging toward me . . . I swear that I thought that would be the last thing I'd ever see.

I didn't even notice I was crying until Max ran over and hugged me. "It's okay, Angel. It's okay," she said, even though she was clearly as shaken up about it as I was. I sobbed into her shoulder.

Spidey dropped down next to me and Max and stroked my hair. "Oh, Angel . . ."

"I (sob) have never (sob) been so scared (sob) in my (sob) entire (sob) life!" I choked out between sobs.

"Shh, I know," said Max. I sat there and cried for the longest time, with the rest of the flock looking on.

**That was really short, I know, but another chapter is coming soon to a near you! **

**And by the way, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	11. The Actual Chapter 10

**HAPPY TENTHENNIAL CHAPTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Ok, sorry about that. Continue.**

**Sorry again that that last one was so short, but in reality it was more of a Chapter 8½, but I don't want to put the chapters even farther behind. Oh well, here's chapter 10! (or 9, depending how u look at it)**

**(I also coined a new expression for Gazzy.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the songs I use in this chapter. They are the property of their artists, and unless I have many alter egos, I am not them. **

Chapter 10: Spidey

Oh my god. I was freaking out. I know I looked calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside . . . well, that was another story.

_How did I do that? _I thought.

Clearly, that sentiment was shared.

"How the he-eck did you _do_ that?" demanded Max.

I didn't have to ask what she meant. Obviously.

I told the truth. "I honestly have no idea."

Clearly, they didn't believe me. Not that I could blame them. Max's eyes narrowed, apparently about to beat the truth out of me—literally and figuratively.

I put up my hands in surrender. "Honest! _I. Don't. Know._"

Angel saved me from imminent beating by saying, "Seriously, Max. She doesn't know."

That poor kid looked terrible. To say that I felt bad for her would be the understatement of the Cenozoic era. I'd never come that close to death before, but from what I could see, it wasn't pretty.

Max sighed, clearly beaten. "Okay, fine, I guess it doesn't really matter so much _that_ you did it as the fact that you _did_ do it. But I'd still like to know how the heck you did it."

I had only known Max for about 24 hours, but I could tell—even without reading her mind—that she was a control freak.

"Sorry, can't tell you that," I said. "And it's not an ethical dilemma, I just honestly don't know." I had no idea how my reflexes all of a sudden were so good.

For a long while, no one spoke. Then Gazzy said, timidly, "Can we hear the rest of those songs now?"

I smiled. "Good idea, Gazzy."

"Yeah, I think we could all use a little something to get our mind off of what just happened," agreed Iggy.

"Okay," I answered. "Nudge, I was going to do you next, so here you are."

"Really?" said Nudge. She scooted up next to me and looked to see what it was.

"This is 'The Sweet Escape,' by Gwen Stefani," I said.

I could tell that Nudge liked the beginning "woo-hoo, yee-hoo"s. Before long, she was singing along to that. She actually looked kind of bummed when Gwen started singing.

"Don't worry, that part is back later," I reassured her. She perked up.

"_If I could escape_

_And recreate a place that's my own world_

_And I could be your favorite girl (forever)_

_Perfectly together_

_Now tell me boy now wouldn't that be sweet (sweet escape)_

_If I could be sweet_

_I know I've been a real bad girl (I'll try to change)_

_I didn't mean for you to get hurt (whatsoever)_

_We can make it better_

_Now tell me boy now wouldn't that be sweet? (sweet escape)"_

Geez, in everyone's mind was an incredible urge to dance. It's not my fault the song's so energetic and has such a good beat! Dancing to it is irresistible.

Nudge was the one who jumped up and started doing a sing-and-dance routine to it. Okay, so the only part she was singing was the "Woo-hoo, yee-hoo!" that was filler between verses, but so what? She was getting a kick out of it, and I had a sense that she didn't get a kick out of much in her life.

By the time the song ended, Nudge was laughing hysterically. "Oh my god, I LOVE that song!" she shouted.

"I thought you would," I responded, giggling. I couldn't help it—her happiness was contagious.

"Here's another one for you, Nudge—how 'bout some No Doubt?"

"Can I dance to it?" she asked.

I laughed. "Yeah, this has a good beat, too. Actually, Gwen Stefani's the lead singer of the group—this is before she went solo."

"Cool!"

She really liked this one, too. Before the first verse was over, she was jumping and dancing around.

"_And I tell myself_

_What good do you do_

_(Oh, oh)_

_Convince myself_

_It's my life_

_Don't you forget_

_It's my life_

_It never ends (it never ends)"_

I tell you, Nudge had a really good memory. By the end of the song she was able to sing some of the more repetitive parts from memory.

"Sweet! I love that song too!" she laughed as the song ended.

But I wasn't really listening. "Oh my god," I said.

"What?" asked Max.

"I can't believe I didn't think of this one before," I said.

Quickly, I opened it up in iTunes.

"(There's Gotta Be) More to Life, Stacie Orrico," I said. "Just listen to it."

And they did.

And I could tell that they thought it was the best one I'd found for Nudge.

"_There's gotta be more to life...  
Than chasing down every temporary high to satisfy me  
Cause the more that I'm...  
Tripping out thinking there must be more to life  
Well it's life, but I'm sure... there's gotta be more  
Than wanting more."_

When the song finished, everyone stayed still, letting the words sink in.

"Oh my god," said Max.

"Holy baloney," said Fang (which struck me as odd, considering I'd never thought of him as a very "holy baloney"-type person).

"Wowzers," said Iggy.

"Detonating," said Gazzy. (I'd never heard this expression before, and neither, apparently, had the rest of the flock, judging from the expressions on their faces.)

"Leaping lizards," said Angel.

Now _that _got a reaction from the general population.

"_What?" _cried Max. "Where did you hear _that_ expression?"

Angel looked worried. "Is that a bad word? Cuz if it is I'm sorry," she said.

Max laughed. "No, it's not a bad word, I just never heard you say that before."

Angel shrugged. "Spidey was thinking it earlier. I just picked it up."

Heads turned toward me. I blushed.

"Sorry," I said.

"Why?" demanded Iggy.

"Yeah, why?" wondered Max. "It's not like it's bad, so why should we care?"

I pondered this. They had a point.

I shrugged. "Good point," I said. "Now why are we talking about this again?"

It was quiet for a minute, and then everyone—including me—burst into peals of laughter.

It felt good to belong.

**So that was longer, right? Again, really sorry for the last chapter being so short, but I think I compensated. **

**Ugh, I just remembered I have a test tomorrow. Better go study (grr….) **

**Oh, and by the way, REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! While I study**

**A very annoyed because she forgot about a test rogue4eva**


	12. The Actual Chapter 11

**Ok, I am sooooooooo sorry that I haven't updated for 5 days but on Friday my comp wasn't working and on Saturday I had 2 do my hw but that's all I was allowed 2 on the comp and on Sunday I had a million places I had 2 go and on Monday I did type some, I **_**did **_**I **_**did **_**I **_**did!!!!!! **_**and now I'm ranting so what-the-heck-ever JUST START WRITING ALREADY sorry that was the voices in my head yelling at me…eep…**

Chapter 11: Max

"Okay then, so where were we?" I asked after we'd settled down.

"Alrighty then," said Spidey. "Who next?"

Gazzy raised his hand shyly. "Okay, then. I guess I'll do Gazzy now," laughed Spidey.

She scrolled down and clicked on a song. I couldn't tell what it was, but decided I'd find out soon enough, and started listening.

"_Dressed up for a big date  
Like Halloween day but it was Fourth of July now  
A car crash with a suitcase and a painted face  
She was one of a kind  
She wears a plastic crown like Cinderella  
And roller skates in bed _

"_Crash rides the greyhound from his hometown  
When he comes around 'cause they don't let him drive now  
Mixed up as a milkshake  
But make no mistake  
They're shooting for the stars_

"_You and me   
We're invincible together  
We can be so tragical, whatever   
Dressed up just like ziggy but he couldn't play guitar _

_Captain Crash and the beauty queen from Mars"_

Once the song ended, we sat deep in thought.

"Nice," I said after a pause. "Not perfect, but close—very close. Especially the part about not letting him drive anymore."

"Hey!"

"It's true, Gaz," said Iggy. "Cars are essentially big containers of gasoline. Can you imagine what we'd—I mean _you'd_—blow up with access to that?"

"Not to mention when you're filling up the tank," added Fang.

"Ditto," agreed Angel.

"And we all heard you, Iggy," said Nudge. "We heard you say _we_. Then you tried to cover it up, but guess what? It didn't work! We heard you!"

"We're kind of off-topic here, aren't we?" I declaimed. But honestly, if Gazzy ever started dating, that would be the type of zany girl he'd go out with, and probably also what they would do.

Wowie.

"Who was the artist of that song?" I asked Spidey.

"Bon Jovi," she responded immediately. "One of my all-time favorite bands."

"Cool," I responded.

"Well, Gazzy, that's all I have for you," Spidey said. "Sorry if that offends you, but you aren't exactly an easy guy to read. Like Nudge."

We all burst out laughing at that.

"Alrighty then," said Spidey once we'd settled down. "How about Iggy, next?"

"Okay," he replied.

"This one is _I am Understood?_ by Relient K," said Spidey as the music started playing.

"_You looked into my life and never stopped  
And you're thinking all my thoughts  
Are so simple, but so beautiful  
And you recite my words right back to me  
Before I even speak  
You let me know, I am understood"_

"Holy chipotle," said Nudge, which was possibly one of the shortest statements I'd ever heard her make.

"Yeah, I'd kind of agree with Nudge on that one," said Gazzy. The rest of us murmured in agreement. Iggy looked pleased. "That is a pretty good one for me," he admitted.

"Yeah, I thought so," said Spidey. "And I also have two more."

"Let's hear them," said Iggy.

"Okay, next is _Falling Out,_ also by Relient K."

"_Face down _

_This carpet tastes like coffee grounds ground into my_

_Face now  
And every angle's covered with just another _

_Band-aid_

I'm out here way beyond  
A shadow of a doubt  
And i know i'm never falling out

_Of favor with you"_

"Okay, that was also pretty good," I said as the song finished.

"Very nice," agreed Fang.

"Wowzers! That was so you, Iggy! That was so totally awesome!" shrieked Nudge.

"Agreed," agreed Gazzy.

"No kidding," said Angel.

Iggy blushed. "Okay, now what's the last one?"

"I thought you'd never ask," said Spidey as she clicked on the last one. "_Forward Motion,_ again, also by Relient K. They are a very good group for you, Iggy."

"Evidently," I muttered.

"_I got evicted now I'm living on the street_

_My spirits lifted...oh wait, that wasn't me  
Too many turns have turned out to be wrong  
This time I learned that, I knew it all along_

When car crashes occur  
Then I'll be what you were  
When I see what I should  
When I see that it's good (that it's good)

To experience the bittersweet  
To taste defeat  
Then brush my teeth

Cause i struggle with forward motion  
I struggle with forward motion  
We all struggle with forward motion  
Cause forward motion is harder than it sounds  
Well every time I gain some ground  
I gotta turn myself around again

_It's harder than it sounds  
Well everytime I gain some ground  
I gotta turn myself around again."_

"If you ask me, that was the best one yet," I said after a pause.

"Ditto," agreed Fang.

"Like, totally!" said Nudge.

"Personally, I thought _I am Understood?_ was better, but that was really good, too," commented Gazzy.

"Yeah, I'm with Gazzy," said Angel.

The consensus: Everyone agreed that the songs fit Iggy perfectly, as if they were custom-made and tailored for him.

"Now then," said Spidey, "Fang, you are next."

Fang did a double take. "Who, me?"

Which was an incredibly dumb thing to say. _No, the other Fang._ I mean, really.

"Yes, you," said Spidey, rolling her eyes. "Now this song is kind of overly Goth and emo-y, but otherwise it works."

"_I see a red door and I want it painted black  
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black  
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes  
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes"_

Fang was staring dumbstruck at the laptop by the time the song was ending. "Yeah, I see what you mean. I agree," was his response.

"Wow," was all I could say.

Angel's eyebrows went up. She said nothing.

Of course, that would be too much to hope for Nudge. "Wow. That song freaks me out! It is overly Goth! It kinda scares me. But not totally. But that's a good song anyway."

"Holy crap," said Gazzy.

"What the heck," said Iggy, not in a bad way, but not in a good way, either.

Spidey seemed to agree with everyone else. "However, I have another song that I just thought of."

The music flowed from the laptop.

"_If everyone cared, if nobody cried_

_If everyone loved, if nobody lied_

_If everyone shared, and swallowed their pride_

_Then we'd see the day_

_When nobody died."_

"Yeah, this one is better," I said.

"I agree with that," said Fang. "The first one needed to be a little less Goth, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah," said Angel, nodding.

"This was really good," responded Iggy.

"Yeah, totally! I especially liked the last part about the stars and how small we are," said Nudge **(A/N: "And as we lie/beneath the stars/we realize/how small we are/if they could love/like you and me/imagine what/the world could be)**.

"That was my favorite part, too," said Gazzy, for once agreeing with Nudge.

"Now then," said Spidey, "it's your turn, Max."

I wondered what they would be. I hoped they would be as good as the rest of the flocks'. I waited for the first one to start playing to answer my questions.

**Max's will be next chapter. I didn't want to keep you waiting any longer, plus Max has a lot. Again, soooooo sorry for keeping you waiting!!!!!!!!!! And I swear afterwards I will get on with the plot. **

**Today in gym we started a unit on softball. I feel like it's a waste of time, considering I've been playing since I was 5, but on the flip side, it's the one sport I'm actually good at, so….yeah. It's also fun making fun of my friend  
Renate when she can't catch the ball. (it actually is pretty funny…)**

**rogue4eva, who is a very bad friend to Renate :(**


	13. The Actual Chapter 12

**YAY!!!!!!!!!! I AM UPDATING!!!!!!!!!!!!! And it is truly amazing that I found time to type becuz 1.) yesterday I had waaaaaaay too much hw in EVERYTHING 2.) I am lazy, and 3.) in geometry we're learning about proofs and we had 2 write several for hw. Which took forever—not becuz I don't get it, but becuz it's so time consuming and I distract easily HEY IS THAT ICE CREAM???? sorry, proving point here, but what ever here's chappie 12**

**I WANT CHOCOLATE ok I'm done now**

Chapter 12: Max

I had no idea why I was so nervous. They're just songs, people! Well, me, but whatever—conversation with self alert—and I really needed to get over myself.

Spidey clicked on the first one, saying, "This one is _Anything but Ordinary,_ Avril Lavigne."

"_Is it enough to love?_

_Is it enough to breathe?_

_Somebody rip my heart out_

_And leave me here to bleed_

_Is it enough to die?_

_Somebody save my life_

_I'd rather be_

_Anything but ordinary please"_

Holy crap. That was so me. I mean, the title was _Anything but Ordinary. _ Yeah, I'd say I was probably anything but ordinary. Well, all of us were, but still. I try to fool myself, say that I wish I was normal. But the truth is, this life is way too much fun to give up. So the part about, "I'd rather be anything but ordinary please" was definitely me.

"Omigod, Max, that was completely awesome! And it's, like, so you! It totally describes you!"

I don't think I need to say that that was Nudge's reaction.

"Geez, that is pretty Max-ish," added Iggy.

"I agree," said Angel.

"That song could be written about you, Max," said Gazzy.

"Yeah, especially the part about 'sometimes I get so weird, I even freak myself out,'" **(A/N[from first verse Sometimes I get so weird/I even freak myself out/I laugh myself to sleep/it's my lullaby) **snorted Fang.

I made a face at him. He grinned at me unexpectedly. I was startled into grinning back.

Spidey smiled. "Okay, here's your next one—Miss Independent, Kelly Clarkson."

"_Miss independent  
Miss self-sufficient  
Miss keep your distance  
Miss unafraid  
Miss out of __my way__  
Miss don't let a man interfere, no  
Miss on her own  
Miss almost grown…_

"_What is this feelin' takin' over?  
Thinkin' no one could open her door  
Surprise...It's time  
To feel what's real  
What happened to Miss Independent?  
No longer need to be defensive  
Goodbye, old you  
When love is true"_

I thought the first one was better, but this one was still good. Evidently, my opinions were shared.

"First better," said Caveman-Fang.

"I still liked this one, though," said Iggy.

"Yeah, it was good, but the other was better," agreed Gazzy.

"I thought they were both really good! Just like everyone else's," remarked Nudge.

"I agree with Nudge," said Angel.

Spidey seemed satisfied with the responses she got. She moved the mouse down and clicked on one called _Nobody's Fool._

"_If you're trying to turn me into someone else  
Its easy to see I'm not down with that  
I'm not nobody's fool  
If you're trying to turn me into something else  
I've seen enough and I'm over that  
I'm not nobody's fool  
If you wanna bring me down  
Go ahead and try_

_Go ahead and try"_

Okay. This was my new second place. It was really good.

"Not bad," was Iggy's response.

"Best so far," said Caveman-Fang again.

"OMG, totally!!!!!!!!!!" shouted Nudge. "Actually, the first one I think was best, but this one's a close second."

"Yeah, I'd say that, too," agreed Angel.

"I'm with Ange," said Gazzy.

Spidey smiled. "Here's the second-to-last one. _Mobile, _by Avril Lavigne, as was the previous one."

"_Everything's changing _

_When I turn around _

_All out of my control _

_I'm a mobile  
Everything's changing _

_Out of what I know _

_Everywhere I go _

_I'm a mobile_

_I'm a mobile"_

Okay, yeah. Nothing, absolutely _nothing,_ was in my control. Good thing I'm not a control freak. But yeah, totally me.

"I give it a nine out of ten," said Iggy, calculating his score.

"Only a nine? I give it a nine _and a half,"_ joked Gazzy. "But seriously, that was _so _good."

"I give it a ten!! Tenny-ten-ten!!" squealed Nudge. "Very incredibly super-duper-Max!!!!"

"Yeah, that was really good," agreed Angel.

"I'd agree with Iggy," said Caveman Fang. (Yay! He was using bigger words now!)

Spidey grinned knowingly. "I saved the best for last," she said. "_Never Underestimate a Girl, _by Vanessa Hudgens."

"_She makes it look easy  
In control completely  
She'll get the best of you_

_Every single _

_Time  
Thought by now you'd realize you should_

Never underestimate a girl  
Gets anything she wants  
She's never gonna stop  
(You know it, we know it)  
Never underestimate a girl  
She's always got a plan   
The world is in her hands"

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

After my eloquent conversation with myself, I found the words to speak my opinion: "Wow."

Shocker. I still surprise myself. And you'd think having to put up with myself for so long, nothing about me would surprise me anymore.

Did that just sound as crazy as I thought it did?

_Yes, Max._

_Thanks for the input, new girl,_ I responded scathingly.

_No __problemo_

I didn't even condescend to reply to that. But turns out, that's a good thing. Because if I had, I'd have missed the flock's reaction to that.

"What the heck, Max!" said Gazzy. That seemed to be all he was capable of saying.

"It's like that song was written for you," said Iggy, which I agreed with COMPLETELY.

"Especially the line about, 'the world's in her hands,'" put in Angel.

Oh, yes. I may have forgotten to mention this, but I am supposed to save the world. Sounds fun, right? Yeah, you keep on believing that. Especially considering I don't have a freaking _clue_ about how I'm supposed to do that.

"Personally, I liked the part about 'she'll get the best of you every single time,'" said Fang softly, but not softly enough that I couldn't hear it. I stuck my tongue out at him—childish, I know, but so was he.

"That song was so you, Max! Like you're always saying, 'there's always a plan'! So that line was perfectness!" cried Nudge.

"Perfection," corrected Spidey.

"Yeah, what she said!! That is the best song you've done for anyone!"

"Totally," agreed Angel.

**The end of chapter 12. I swear I'll get on w/ the plot next chapter! And 2 read the rest of my soundtrack, go to my profile and it's waaaaay down at the bottom.**

**Sorry if this one wasn't so good. Today I found out that my 5****th**** grade science teacher died. And the good parts (including the very beginning A/N and the end) I'd done several days ago, like Saturday or Sunday. **

**I will try to update sooner. Bye bye!**

**Rogue4eva, who is sad and tired right now. (idk what time zones u ppl r in, but in mine it is currently 10:07 PM and that is why I am tired. Plus like I already said I had a bad day at school.)**


	14. The Actual Chapter 13

**I am officially afraid of voodoo dolls. Don't hurt me! I know I haven't updated for a while, but the last 2 weeks have been soooooooooo crazy with homework. My teachers in a nutshell—one night, they give us so much hw we're up all night, the next, they don't give us any, but we can't enjoy it cuz we're too busy catching up on sleep. I'm not kidding. Oh, well. I'm updating now, so I hope you don't hate me anymore. And for goodness' sake, GET THOSE PINS AWAY FROM ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Random observation: An Everlasting Gobstopper jawbreaker lasts an average of 6 minutes and 43.03 seconds.**

Chapter 13: Spidey

Yay! They liked the songs! That was officially awesome. I felt all warm and fuzzy inside.

Suddenly, I had the weirdest feeling—like the on I'd had earlier, when the Erasers attacked. Which, of course, could only mean one thing.

Yep, there was definitely something wrong.

I snapped my head up, trying to listen harder. Max and the others stared at me.

"What? What's wrong?" demanded Max, trying to hide the panic in her voice.

"Erasers." My voice was barely above a hoarse whisper. "Some must have gotten away last time and called for reinforcements. There are a lot more now. At least a hundred and ten."

This time, the panic on everyone's faces was evident. Max started giving orders.

"Okay, everyone, we're going to have to run. Nudge, pack up the backpacks and distribute them. Iggy, put out the fire—get that explosive away from it!—and Fang, you're going to have to carry Total."

Total? Huh?

I must have said it aloud, because I heard an offended "uh!" sound coming from Angel's lap. There was a small black dog there; I hadn't noticed it there before.

_Whatever you do, don't call Total "it", _came Angel's voice in my mind.

_Um, okay,_ I responded.

"Total is Angel's annoying talking dog," explained Max as she frantically cleaned up all the stuff from the cave..

"Annoying!" squawked Total.

I could see what Angel had meant. I made a mental note to always call him a "he."

The Erasers were getting closer now. "Uh, Max? Are we almost done? They're getting closer…"

"Just about!" she answered.

I grabbed the laptop and stuffed in into my backpack—the only thing that I'd been able to keep—okay, smuggle away from the whitecoats—from my past life. I slung the straps over my back.

"Okay, come on, everyone! To the caverns!"

Uh, except that all the Erasers were coming from that direction.

Max whirled around. "O-kaaay, to the cliff!"

Yeah. There too.

We were trapped. We were not getting out of there alive.

Was it wrong that the only thing I was thinking was that now I'd never see Season 7 of American Idol?

"The other cliff!" I shouted suddenly.

Everyone stared at me. "Excuse me?" asked Max in a voice that said, "What the are you talking about? Now is _so_ not a good time."

I flushed. "I don't know how I know, but go that way"—I pointed east—"and there's another cliff there."

No one asked any questions. We just ran as fast as we could. And there was indeed another cliff—a sheer drop that could crumble at any moment.

But it was still a cliff.

Wait—what were we supposed to do? We'd never survive a fall like that.

But when Max started screaming at everyone to "U&A! NOW!!!", I remembered. Oh, yeah, we have wings.

WHAT?!?!

Finally, it was only Max and me left.

"What is WRONG with you? GO!!" she shouted in my ear.

"Uh, Max?" I began.

"WHAT?"

"Um, now probably isn't the best time, but…"

"Spit it out!"

"Um…I'm afraid of heights."

**Ha ha, CLIFFIE!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!!!!! **

**And I put Total in here because I realized I hadn't done anything with him yet. I hope that it wasn't confusing or anything…**

**Again, I'm so so so so so so sorry for not updating! I will try to update again soon!**

**Thanks so much to all my awesome reviewers! (and nightengale07, you'd better update soon or I will come to your house and I kill you—no I won't, I'll just come close, and then I'll make you update…I know where you live…BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!)**

**Rogue4eva, who REALLY wants nightengale07 to update OR ELSE (hint hint…)**


	15. The Actual Chapter 14

**I AM UPDATING! YAY ME! Whatev, thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! I love u all! (unless your name is nightengale07, who repeatedly asks the same questions and always gets the same answer and therefore is exasperating…)**

**My favorite pairing: Fme (Fang x me)**

Chapter 14: Max

"You have got to be kidding me."

Actually, I'm surprised I even was able to find the words to speak. I mean, how the heck could she be afraid of heights? SHE HAD (censored) WINGS, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!!!

"Have you ever even flown?"

"Um, no…"

I let out an exasperated-to-the-point-of-ripping-limb-from-limb sigh. She apparently could tell what I meant, because she took a step back.

"Well, that, I suppose, would be step one. I'm afraid I can't teach the specifics right now, but essentially, to take off, you run, unfurl your wings, and jump off. And for god's sake, DON'T FORGET TO FLAP!"

I was actually pretty surprised that I was able to be so calm, but I figured that she could pretty much figure out how I was feeling at the moment from the thoughts in my head, which I can't record here on account of most of what it would say would be made up of (beep)s, (bleep)s, and (censored)s. **(A/N: and the rating is K+…)**

I took off, then looked back at her. She looked terrified.

But, as I have said before, the funny thing about imminent death is that it really throws everything into perspective. However, this time, it was not about me, but Spidey. And you know why?

Well, let's start with the fact that a pack of 100+ Erasers was after her?

"HURRY UP YOU (censored) IDIOT!" I screamed at her. Geez, I was really swearing a lot, wasn't I? Although, considering all the stress I was under, you can't really blame me.

She turned and looked behind her. I saw an expression of naked fear cross her face. She turned back around and bit her lip. You didn't need mind-reading powers to realize that she was having an internal battle with herself—_should I face my fear, which will benefit me for the rest of my life considering the fact that I have wings and should probably be able to fly with them, or be ripped to shreds by a Pack of Bloodthirsty Erasers (POBE) _**(A/N: This is from **_**Bad Kitty: **_**the Screaming Horde of Guys (SHOG)! LOL!)**_ and have absolutely no life to even bemoan?_

It seemed she chose the first option, which didn't really surprise me. She bit her lip harder and determinedly stepped back as many steps as was possible with the POBE at her heels. She unfurled her wings, ran to the cliff—pretty darn fast, too—and took off.

I gasped. I couldn't help myself. Her wings were so pretty—they were pure white, but streaked with gray, black, russet, and brown. I had never actually seen them before, but they were absolutely breathtaking.

She flew closer, looking for all the world like she was on death row. Again, I could practically read her mind—_don't look down don't look down don't look down—_

And, of course, she looked down.

She looked back up as fast as was (in)humanly possible and shut her eyes tightly.

I felt bad for her, in spite of myself. We were approaching the rest of the flock, who were staring at us—well, not really Iggy, but you know what I mean—with looks ranging from somewhat perplexed (Angel) to just happy we were still alive (Nudge) to vibrating with anger (Fang).

I waved dismissively. "It doesn't matter," I said. "Long story."

Fang glared at me with a look that said _"This isn't over. We will talk later."_

I sighed. "Come on, guys, let's just leave."

We flew in silence for several minutes before I asked a question that had been bugging me. "Spidey?"

She seemed to be doing better. She turned to me. "Hm?"

"Why are you afraid of heights?"

She sighed. I immediately felt bad.

She laughed a little, evidently having read my thoughts. "No, it's okay. I know you think it's kind of weird that I have spider powers and wings, but I'm still afraid of heights."

I reddened. That _had_ been my first thought. **(A/N: Ha! Take that, NG07!)**

"Well, it's kind of stupid, but when I was little—around six or so—when I still lived in Cleveland (we moved when I was eight), my parents took us to Chicago for a weekend. We went to the Sears tower, and, for one thing, it was so high up that I got sick for a week from the height, and for another, I went over to the edge—which, yeah, is encased in glass, but still scary—and just from looking down there, I almost fainted. At the age of six. So my parents forbade me from ever going that high or even close to it ever again while I lived in their house because they couldn't take time off from their schedules to nurse me back to health for a week." **(A/N: This actually has happened to me—last year on a school trip to Chicago. It was not an enjoyable experience. I highly suggest avoidance at all costs.)**

I think I stared at her too long, because she flushed and smiled apologetically. "Sorry. I told you it was stupid."

I shook my head. "No, it's really not. Sometimes I freak out when I go up too high." Which was a bald-faced lie, but…she didn't have to know that, did she?

She looked at me reproachfully. Oh yeah, she could read minds. Buh. **(A/N: "Buh" is the new "duh". Don't ask.) **"Well, okay, I used to! Geez," I said to her.

She rolled her eyes at me, evidently not believing me. To be honest, I didn't blame her. I can't remember a single time where I didn't love going as high—and fast—as I can go. I absolutely love everything about flying.

I hadn't even realized that we'd fallen behind the flock until Gazzy yelled, "Hurry up, slowpokes!"

We looked at each other and laughed. Then we went to join the flock.

**Please review! I beg of you! Now, for some reviewer comments:**

**To lil' angel:**** thanx so much! I'm glad you finally reviewed! And you evidently liked it, so that automatically gives you standing over NG07…**

**And I was reeeeeeeeaaaaaaaally bored, and I had a full box of Gobstoppers, and the rest is history. Use your imagination.**

**To NG07:**** I'm sick of writing your full name out, so I shortened it. I hope you don't mind, but frankly, I don't care. And again, I'm so sick of you asking questions when I was always give you the same answer—WAIT TIL NEXT CHAPTER!!!!! **

**To Green.Winged.Mistress:**** Thank you so much for your review! It's people like you who make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside and make me want to keep writing!**

**To maxride08, maximumride24, maximum-ride-003, TYFFN, and skyflyer81310:**** Thank you so much for all of your reviews! I love you all! **

**To all reviewers:**** Keep reviewing! Please! **

**I will hopefully update soon! I don't have any homework tonight, so I will now go thank God for making my teachers merciful for at least one night! (and NG07, now you have no excuse! Bwahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!)**

**AND TODAY IS MY LAST DAY OF BEING 13!!!!! TOMORROW IS MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**Sorry, just had to get that out of my system.**

**Rogue4eva, who is signing off for the last time as a 13-year-old (sniff, sniff! Sorry, just being sentimental for a minute)**


	16. The Actual Chapter 15

**Don't kill me 4 not updating, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sorry, but I was just very very very lazy. O well, happy Halloween! Even though it's a little late, but who cares???? I started typing the day before Halloween. **

**Me and my 2 bffs went as max, nudge, and angel 4 halloween. I was nudge!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nudge is my fave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (although I didn't really have a choice, considering my 2 friends were blond and I was the only brunette, and plus my personality fits nudge best—or vice versa, depending on how u look at it.) whatev. When we were trick or treating, no one could tell that we were the flock!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone thought we were charlies angels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's like, okay, do u even read???????????????? Only one person saw us for who we really were (which sounds very deep, but it's really not) and that person was a librarian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! someone asked where Charlie was, and I said he was back at candy mountain. If u don't get it, go 2 this url, which I am hoping shows up (sorry if it doesn't): **

**h****t t p / w w w . y o u t u b e . c o m / w a t c h ? v Q 5 I m 0 S s y y u s **

**maybe i should just shut up now. Get on with the chapter. Geez, I think im taking a page out of ng07's book—or a document out of her word processor, I guess—w/ the chapterly rant!!!!!!!!! Read her story "Life as we know it" which is in my favorite stories for easy access, and NG07, this means u have 2 advertise my story in ur story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**and this chapter is kind of different from the last several chapters. Hope u don't mind!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

Chapter 15: Faye

Well, that little blowup earlier didn't help me any. Actually, I was exiled to my room for "all eternity or until I learn to love my enemies" (in the words of my mom. I think she's pretty much given up on Emily and I being BFFLs) "whichever comes first."

I think it will probably be the eternity one. I hold grudges.

It isn't exactly one of my endearing qualities.

So, I was up there, fuming, too mad to even read a magazine. Instead, I put on my headphones and turned up the volume on my iPod. I only played angry songs. Lots of Kelly Clarkson on there—I think I played "Never Again" about six million times.

So there I was for hours. Until my mom opened the door.

Without looking up, I sighed heavily. "I thought I was up here for all eternity," I said satirically.

"Faye, we have a problem. Come downstairs. Family meeting."

I sighed again. The last time we had a "family meeting," some great-uncle's cousin twice removed's sister-in-law's daughter's husband's brother that no one in my family even knew had died. I don't think my parents even knew whose side of the family he was on. Was this going to be another huge waste of time? I sincerely hoped not. I wanted to finish my sentence uninterrupted by funerals.

I got up slowly, took off my headphones, and slouched downstairs. Everyone else was already down, which I considered an astounding feat. Usually, everyone was somewhere else with their friends or something. And, _for once_—I mean this quite literally—Greg and Henry looked non-schemingful, not like when they put snakes in my bed. Bad experience. Don't want to talk about it.

I now knew something was really wrong.

I sat down slowly on the couch, trembling a little bit.

My mom and dad came into the room, apparently satisfied that everyone was here. Perhaps satisfied wasn't the right word. They looked pretty glum.

Dad put his arm around Mom. Uh-oh. Bad sign. "Guys," he began.

It was definitely a sign of the tension that Chelsea didn't say anything about how "Excuse me? There are girls in here, too."

Gulp. I was scareder than before.

"Guys," Dad continued, "Emily's missing."

My mouth dropped open. I was purely shocked. Emily? Missing?? WHAT??? She COULDN'T!! Great. I'd never apologized for yelling at her, or changing our room, or anything. And maybe I never would. No—don't think about that. Great, now I was talking to myself. So I was crazy, now. Whoopee.

The room was dead silent. No one moved a muscle.

I broke the silence. I started sobbing hysterically.

Mom rushed over to me and put her arms around me. "Shh, Faye, it's okay." But I could tell that she was fighting the urge to cry, too. I was so worried. What was going to happen? I didn't want to think about it.

"What about Angela?" whispered Alex from next to me. Angela's older sister Megan was one of her best friends. "Didn't they go for a walk together or something?"

Dad nodded heavily. "Yes. It was Angela's mom who called and told us that they were missing when they didn't come back for dinner at 5:30 like they'd told her they would. Then, they were looking and couldn't find them where they said they'd be. They called us, and we went down to talk to the police. They didn't seem too worried when we told them that Emily'd been mad at Faye. They said that she probably didn't want to go home yet and was off somewhere—"

I could feel my face flush. So was it my fault?

"—but we knew that Emily would never do that. So now we're waiting."

Waiting. What an ugly word, I was to find. _Waiting_ meant sleepless nights, worrying about what I should have done, worrying that it was my fault she was gone. _Waiting_ meant my mom never letting the phone out of her sight and sitting by it all day with a box of tissues. _Waiting_ meant my dad not even going out to play basketball with his friends anymore, only going to work and coming home.

I was terrified.

It had been weeks when we finally heard a knock on the door.

We were eating/picking at our dinner when it happened. We all stared at each other, as if daring the others to go get it for fear of who it might be, and whether they bore good or bad news.

Well, there was only one way to find out, and no one else was doing anything.

I pointed at my mom. "You get it."

Everyone stared at her expectantly. Finally, she sighed and got up. Instantly the rest of us got up and followed her to the door.

What we saw when we opened the door was truly shocking.

**HA HA!!!!!!!! CLIFFIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don't worry, I'll continue next chapter. I just didn't want 2 keep u waiting any longer. See how nice I am??? Now, for some (drumroll please) FAN MAIL!!!!!!!!! (cheers resound from everywhere around me)**

**Lil' Angel: I'm glad u like authors notes cuz I WUV writing them.**

**Maxride08: "first you'd faint over fangy/then max would beat u up" MY FAVE LINES IN THAT HAPPY BDAY SONG!!!! Thank u!!!!!!!!!!!**

**N7: I shortened ur name again. Hope u don't mind. I have nothing more 2 say. Oh wait—yes I do!!!!!!!! How's ur honeypoo???? And ur honeywunnypoo?????????? Lol!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Btw, people, iggy is her honeypoo. One of her fancharacters is her honeywunnypoo. If u want to hear the story, tell me and I'll post it next chapter.**

**Green.Winged.Mistress: YAY!!!!!!!! I AM WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!!! TAKE THAT, N7!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But srsly, thank u!!!!!!! ur reviews mean lots 2 me. xoxox!!!!!!!!!!!**

**EVERYONE: THANK U!!!!!!!!!!!! I WUV U ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**And I will most likely change my name soon to something that reflects my personality more. N7 and lil' angel, u know what is to come……BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	17. The Actual Chapter 16

**Sorry I haven't updated in a long time. Take your pick: Laziness, writer's block, homework, or a little brother who won't get off the computer because he's so busy with his Age of Mythology computer game.**

**Okay, I had writers block on what I was originally gonna do (continuation of last chappy) so I decided to make u guys wait longer and just start again (this chap makes everything more suspenseful, anyway…)**

**My lifelong goal in 3 steps:**

**Become famous.**

**Create reality show to find Fang look- and act-alike.**

**Marry the winner.**

**Randomness: I wish I had an opposable nose. 2 find out where the heck that came from, ask n7.**

**The "This Explains a LOT Fact of the Day": My birthday is the same day as "Weird Al" Yankovic.**

Chapter 16: Max

YES!! She was actually flying. And, bonus, she didn't seem so terrified now. I mentally patted myself on the back for my lovely pep talk (as long as "pep talk" meant "threat").

Fang was still rather angry with me (as long as "rather angry" means "steam practically coming out of his ears"). He flew next to me and hissed, "I told you that girl was bad news."

I sighed. "Fang, we've been over this. She hasn't exactly had the easiest year. And after that story…well…"

Fang gave an exasperated sigh. "My lord, Max, can't you see what's going on here? She's trying purposefully to mess with you!!"

I gave an equally exasperated sigh. "Fang, again, we've been over this. Why can't you trust her?"

"Maybe because I'm not a complete LUNATIC, Maximum?" he snarled.

He glared at me, then put on a burst of speed and flew ahead.

I felt like hitting something.

I fell behind a little bit to where Nudge was talking to (as long as "talking to" means "never shutting up and talking about everything known to mankind and letting no one else get a word in edgewise, whether they want to or not") Spidey. I felt kind of bad, but Spidey didn't seem to mind. She just kind of nodded and smiled occasionally.

I had a feeling that she was used to this.

"Yeah, Max, growing up with twelve brothers and sisters will do that to you," she said mildly to me.

I swear my jaw hit the ground—and when I say this, keep in mind that "the ground" is several thousand feet below me at the time I am saying this.

"_TWELVE?" _I said, incredulous. And I have my hands full with _six._ Her poor parents…

"Yep, twelve. Not including me. Let me tell you, that ain't fun."

Twelve. No, I guess that would be thirteen. My word.

"Wow, _twelve _brothers and sisters? I wonder what that would be like! Hey, Max, wouldn't that be cool—"

"_**NO, NUDGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!**_" I said in the kind of voice that if this was being written down in a word processor and posted on Fanfiction . net it would be in bold, italics, caps lock, and underlining. Plus followed by about sixty million exclamation points.

Nudge looked pouty. Then she brightened and began interrogating Spidey.

"So, Spidey, how many bedrooms were in your house? Or bathrooms? Ick, I would hate having to share a bathroom with twelve people. Well, I guess counting your parents, it would be fourteen…Anyway, where are you in your family? Oldest? Youngest? Middle?"

Spidey sighed. "Okay, we have a big house, but still everyone has to share with someone else. Except for Maddy and Luke because Alex and Bobby have moved out already. Well, I'm guessing Chels has, too, by now…….Oh, well. Anyway, there are five bathrooms in the house. I guess there are worse things than having to share a bathroom with two other people. Well, that kind of varies, but you get the picture. Unless one of them takes as long as five people, then it's kind of annoying and you have to bribe Jackie and Izzy—whoops, she wants to go by Isabelle now. That's so hard to remember sometimes—to use theirs so you're not late for school. They're going to be billionaires someday just from that business.

"And, I'm actually fifth oldest in the family. I'm fifteen. The oldest—Alex—is 24, and the youngest—Luke and Maddy, twins—are eight."

Nudge's eyes were round. "Wow. That's really cool."

Spidey snorted. "Easy for you to say."

I said a silent prayer of thanks that I didn't have to put up with thirteen children.

"How did you survive, Spidey?" I asked.

She sighed at me exasperatedly. "First of all, answer. It's just something you learn," she said, as if it were obvious.

"And second of all, name. You know, this name really isn't working out. I'd rather go by my real name. It's less confusing that way. Changing your name isn't really the easiest thing to do."

I shrugged, surprised. "Okay, I don't mind. What was—is—your name?"

She glanced at me, amused. "Nice save, Max."

"Thanks. So…….."

"Okay! Geez!"

Nudge cut in: "Max, I'm hungry……."

"Wait a minute!"

"Me too."

"GAZZY! Shush!"

Spidey looked exasperated. "My goodness, O Impatient One. You know, you don't want to be guilty of starving these children…God knows we have enough problems with world hunger as it is……"

"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!!!!!!!!"

"Fine! My name's Emily."

**YAYFUL CLIFFIENESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! W00T!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**I felt like making a big family. I thought that might be kind of interesting…………**

**I'm really sorry it's taken so long to update, but see reasons at the top of the page.**

**Maximumfreak: Why didn't you sign in for eighty percent of your reviews? Not that I care, just wondering.**

**N7: I'm tired right now, so I wont post that wonderful story. I'll wait til next chappie……..evil smile :)**

**Again, SOOOOOOO sorry 2 keep u waiting 4 so long!!!!!!!!!!! Now I have 2 update my other story—Only Six, r&r (HINT HINT)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**fluffy**


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